ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Balochistan police to arrest and produce former provincial minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran within a week for his alleged involvement in the forced marriages of two minor girls and abduction of their five relatives, besides running a private jail in his area.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, while hearing an application of Issa Khan, also directed the provincial police to recover the five kidnapped relatives of the minor girls from his private jail.

The Balochistan inspector general of police, home secretary and levies director-general was also ordered by the court to provide protection and security to the family of applicants Issa Khan, 7-year old Azzoo and nine-year old Lal Khatoon.

The bench was told that Sardar Khetran had ordered the forced marriage of two minors, which the relatives of the minors declined to accept. Consequently he abducted five male members of the family and allegedly subjected them to torture in his private jail.

The court was told that Sardar Khetran is the spouse of incumbent provincial Minister Nasreen Baloch and as such area police was reluctant to arrest him. Moreover, being a feudal lord the accused has great influence over the police.

However, the court expressed displeasure and observed that no one was above the law asking how a husband of a minister could be spared for his alleged criminal activities.

The bench will resume hearing on Dec 8.

Opinion

From hero to zero

From hero to zero

The infighting as the country tumbles from regime to regime and from set-up to set-up is so great that it infects everything around it.

Editorial

Relying on debt
Updated 03 Oct, 2023

Relying on debt

Sadly, the ruling military and civil elite haven’t grasped the seriousness of the economic crises.
Palestine abandoned
03 Oct, 2023

Palestine abandoned

IT appears to be only a matter of time before a normalisation deal is announced between Saudi Arabia and Israel....
Killjoys in Swat
03 Oct, 2023

Killjoys in Swat

IN yet another blow to women’s rights in Pakistan, a group of young, spirited girls seeking to participate in a...
Faizabad redux
Updated 02 Oct, 2023

Faizabad redux

TLP was allowed to flourish despite its virulent ideology, recurrently causing immense embarrassment for Pakistani authorities in later years.
Exporting beggars
02 Oct, 2023

Exporting beggars

A RECENT revelation by the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis during a briefing to the Senate has...
Brutalising society
02 Oct, 2023

Brutalising society

THE Senate Standing Committee on Interior passed a bill last week with a majority vote that favoured the public...